Cotton picker



' R. BRYANT COTTON PICKER April 6, 1954 4 sheetssheefc 1 Filed April 29, 1953 ATTORNEY5 Apnl 6, 1954 R. BRYANT 2,674,076

I COTTON PICKER Filed April 29, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 k N o a 3 M N V f R INVENTOR Richard Bryan? ATTORNEYS April 6, 1954 R BRYANT 2,674,076

- COTTON PICKER Filed April 29, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 y-v-w b 56 4! II I/l/l 66.

42, INVENTOR Richard Bryanl" ATTOR NE Y5 Patented Apr. 6, 1954 UNITED Til s 2,674,01 e GOT-TON, manna Richard i atL e-Raer e, Application April 29, 1953, Serial No. 351,315.

2 C ai s: 1 This invention relates to cotton pickers. An object, of this invention is to provide a cotton picker in the form of apparatus which ay be attached to a tractor for operation from the power take-off of the tractor.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cotton picker whereinthe cotton is picked from the plantsby means of a pair of belts having pickingpins 'or fingers, The cotton bolls are removed from the, pins or fingers'by. strippers and'the cotton is then suckedupwardly' and aitwardlyI by a suction fan and deposited into riecemror collector. i

nfurther' bje'ct oi.v this invention is to vpro-1 vide a c tt'on picker attachment for. a tractor whii of different heights.

Witfi'the' above and other objects in view, myv invention consists in "the -arrai'rige'rrfi'ent, c'ombiria tion'and'details of construction disclosed in the driawili gs and Specification, and then more par ocmariy pointed o'ut'm' the appended. eiaims;

Figure 1 i'sfa detailed side. e evation partly,

broken away of a cotton picker attachment con} struetedface ram'g' to an embodiment ofthis ifiventiqm.

Figure? is a plan view. partly. brokenaway,

of "the/device in applied position onj'af'ti" ct' Figiire3 is an enlarged vertical section t" on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Fi u e n. n a d fr gm n ar e on view taken on. theline. 4- -4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is 'an enlarged section'alview taken on the'line 5-5 of Figure 1;

""Figu're 6v is a fragmentary front elevation of the picking structure;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the. line 1-1 of Figure 4, as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows showing the stripper at the upper end of each picker belt; and

Figure 8 is a plan view of one of the strippers.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l designates generally a conventional tractor embodying a frame I I and front and rear wheels I2 and I3 respectively.

The tractor III also includes a power take-off l4 from which a shaft l projects forwardly. An upright frame structure generally indicated at I6 is secured to the tractor frame H in a position to occupy the space between the front and rear wheels. The frame l6 includes pairs of confronting channel members I! which are connected together by connecting bars l8.

The frame [6 is secured to the frame II by new or, picker drums 31 and 38 respectively a tically disposed housing. 22 which opens inwa ea s. fans r u por i s bars "t, heitenie [6 has adjustably nounted therein a pairof} picker units and 2-1, These units it and 2;}; are of like construction and each includes a very;

ly n is r d atit e o po ite rtica i d e reof wi l e flan e ag n tithe uides. r h nnels. H;- he un v .1 and 21 ate ada te to eve ti allv i'iiste v b m ns. .1% fl e cable. 4 w h is s ured s a is a picker housing and is trained over an per; pulley. 25' which is rotatably carried by-the frame It;

There are two of these cables 24, one for; each i o e m v d 2|v and ti ted-9 9 th e. cables is r ne bc t, a pu ley ar ied b h upper o im o he, ra :6 wth t he cable 24 a be x ended r g t angul rlv an; inwardly as indicated at. 28;. Theegtension at; i e trained ab withe ul r 2 9; nd; th c b e e e as nd ca at 6 t he common cable 3!. The cable 3] is e gtended rearwardly and is trained over an upper reap pu y n e tende ownwa dly r m uller 32 as ndic t a 3..

The cable extension 33 is then, trained-about a r ar ow ul y,- A; an a e ext nsipn; 33 h xt de r w d irend ca ed 3?; d is c nne te to n. d ust n ever. U it 30. 4%. s d thene e n owers n w c an e dle abe 3 n ge nd he. elt ha proie t e r m e o e ide e eof: anl rality of sta gered. cotton "picker, pins The. nnit 21 also. has mounted therein upper. and;

lowerdrums4l and 42, aboutwhich an endless pi ker b t 43 engages and; e alphas-fi ed there o a l al y i picker. pinsAA- Thmaet wa Q he e t ii-and 1 move gwar ilx 59;; as to move the cotton upwardly as the cotton is picked by the pins 40 and 44 from the plants. A suction blower 45 of any desired conventional type including a housing or casing and blades rotatably mounted on a shaft in said housing is mounted in any convenient manner above the tractor Ill and has the suction side 46 thereof extending forwardly with the blower side 41 extending rearwardly.

In certain instances Where the power take-off l4 includes a second shaft extending laterally, the blower 45 may be connected with this second take-off. However, in order to be assured of the blower operating at a sufficiently high speed, I have provided a power member 48 which is secured to the rear portion of the tractor l0.

The power member 48 has a driving pulley 49 secured to the drive shaft 50 and an endless belt is trained about the pulley 49 and about an upper driven pulley 52 which is secured to the fan or blower shaft 53. An upper pipe 54 extends from the suction side 46 and is connected with a suction housing 55 mounted in the upper portion of the frame I6.

The suction housing 55 includes a downwardly extending pipe 56 with a telescoping pipe section 51 projecting downwardly therefrom. The telescoping pipe section 51 is provided with a pair of downwardly divergent branches 58 which extend in the direction of and over the upper ends of the picker belts 39 and 43. The lower ends of the divergent branches 58 are disposed in upwardly spaced relation to the picker belts and each branch 58 has secured thereto a stripper memtime. The pins or fingers 4B and 44 will pull the cotton bolls off of the plants and the cotton will move upwardly between the picker members 20 and 2|. The strippers 59 will remove the cotton from the pins 40 and 44 and the cotton will then be drawn upwardly by the suction of the fan member or suction blower 45. The cotton which is discharged from the discharge nipple 41 is then moved rearwardly into a receiver or hopper 13 which is mounted on the rear portion of the tractor.

I claim:

1. A cotton picker attachment for a tractor having a power take-off comprising an upright frame structure, said frame structure comprising pairs of confronting channel members, means securing said frame structure to the frame of the her generally indicated at 59. The stripper member 59 is constructed in the form of an elongated hard rubber strip 69, which is provided with a plurality of slots 61 through which the pins 40 and 44 are adapted to engage. The strip Ell is formed at its outer edge with an upwardly projecting flange 62 which is secured to the outer side of a suction branch 58. The stripper member 59 is provided with a relatively thin inner edge and is transversely curved, particularly at its inner portion so as to snugly engage the picker belt as the belt passes over an upper drum.

The upper drums 31 and 4'! are operatively connected together by means of a twisted belt 63 which engages about a pulley 54 fixed on the shaft 65 which extends through the drum 3?. The belt 63 also engages about a pulley 65 mounted on a shaft 61 which is fixed to and extends through the upper drum 4!. Shaft 61 is connected with the take-off shaft by means of an intermediate extensible shaft 68 which has universal joints 69 and!!! at each end thereof. The cotton plants are led into the space between the picker belts 38 and 43 by means of a plurality of outwardly divergent or curved fingers H which are secured to the forward sides of the picker housings and 2|.

In use and operation of this attachment the frame-l6 is secured by the supporting bars l9 to the tractor frame l0 and the picker unit adjmsting lever 36 is secured to a suitable support such as 12 which is fixed to the rear portion of the frame ill. The picker housings 29 and 2i are adjusted vertically according to the heighth of the cotton bolls and the tractor is moved along the row of plants which will engage between the front wheels and one of the rear wheels. It will be understood that there may be two of these picking attachments, one on each side of the frame I0 so that two rows may be picked at one tractor, a pair of picker members slidably engaging said channel members, means vertically adjusting said picker members, each picker member including a vertical housing, an endless belt in each housing, staggered picker pins carried by each belt, said belts having vertical inner runs, a driving connection between said belts, operating means for said belts connected with the power take-off, a suction means having an intake and an outlet carried by said frame structure and overlying said belts, and a collector connected with the outlet side of said suction means.

2. A cotton picker attachment for a tractor having a power take-off comprising an upright frame structure, said frame structure comprising pairs of confronting channel members, means securing said frame structure to the frame of the tractor, a pair of picker members slidably engag ing said channel members, means vertically adjusting said picker members, forwardly projecting and outwardly curved plant guide fingers for guiding the plants between said picker members, each picker member including a vertical housing, an endless belt in each housing, staggered picker pins carried by each belt, said belts having vertical inner runs, a driving connection between said belts, operating means for said belts connected with the power take-01f, a suction means having an intake and an outlet carried by said frame structure and overlying said belts, and a collector connected with the outlet side of said suction means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,589,340 Rodgers June 15, 1926 1,664,924 Helton Apr. 3, 1928 1,778,587 Crumley Oct. 14, 1930 2,438,393 Hammer et al Mar. 23, 1948 

